Ice Hockey Venues

About Ice Hockey

The men’s tournament starts with 12 teams split into three groups. In the preliminary round, each team plays the other three in its group once. The top four teams that come out of the prelims move automatically into the qualification round, while the other eight play to determine which four will move on. The four winners of the qualification round move into the medal round.

The eight women’s teams are divided into two groups in the preliminaries; each team plays the other three teams in its group once, with the top two teams in each group going to the semifinals.

Sweden will try to defend its 2006 gold medal in men’s hockey against what appear to be the strongest teams, Russia and Canada. The Russian team, which has beaten Canada to win the last two world championships, is loaded with forwards, including Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Ilya Kovalchuk, plus nine players from the K.H.L. Canada is led by Sidney Crosby, Scott Niedermayer, Joe Thornton, Jerome Iginla and Martin Brodeur.

On the women’s side, Canada, which won gold four years ago and will be the top-seeded team in Vancouver, has four players who will add Vancouver to Olympic résumés that already include Nagano, Salt Lake City and Turin: Hayley Wickenheiser, Jennifer Botterill, Jayna Hefford and Becky Kellar. The United States squad includes the four-time Olympians Angela Ruggiero and Jenny Potter and the three-timers Natalie Darwitz, the team captain, and Julie Chu.

The United States has won the last two world titles, each time defeating Canada in the final.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia  As a coach, Ron Wilson has known great success and great failure. And that is only this season. Wilson has led the surprising United States men’s hockey team to the Olympic gold medal game against Canada on Sunday. And when the N.H.L.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia  Looking ahead to Sunday’s gold medal men’s hockey game, the Canadian coach, Mike Babcock, said of the Americans: “We know them and they know us. There won’t be a lot of surprises.” There probably will not be a lot of dazzling Olympic-style hockey, either.

To the Sports Editor: Re “Valuing Consistency Over the Big Trick,” Feb. 20: The Olympian Yevgeny Plushenko was quoted saying: “Now it’s not figure skating. Now it’s dancing.” In fact, it hasn’t been figure skating for more than 20 years.

Neighborhood rivals Canada and the United States will meet Sunday for the gold medal in men's hockey, the home favorite against the surprise top seed looking for its first Olympic title since the Miracle on Ice in 1980.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia  Six days ago, it seemed preposterous. On Friday it became a reality. Canada will meet the United States on Sunday for the Olympic gold medal, a highly anticipated match that will be the defining moment of these Winter Games for the host nation and one that will fascinate millions of its neighbors.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia  How good is the United States men’s hockey team, really? The American record so far consists of some workmanlike but not overwhelming preliminary games, an amazing upset against the Canadians (assisted immeasurably by Ryan Miller ’s spectacular goaltending and Martin Brodeur ’s miscues) and now...

VANCOUVER, British Columbia  Like platooning goaltenders, the Canadian hockey announcers Chris Cuthbert and Gord Miller are taking turns behind the microphone, their voices providing the soundtrack for Canada’s Xanadu production.